Office Location: Norfolk, VA., Richmond, VA.
Education
- B.S.B.A. (cum laude), E. Claiborne Robins School of Business, University of Richmond
- J.D. (cum laude), T.C. Williams School of Law, University of Richmond
Jurisdiction Licensed
- Virginia
Professional & Community Activities
- Towne Bank Leadership Alliance Board, Member
- E.V. Williams Advisory Board, Member
- International Council of Shopping Centers
- Hampton Roads Association of Commercial Realtors
- Team Hoyt, Member and Participant
- American Bar Association
Notable Accomplishments
- VIrginia Weekly, “Virginia’s Go To Lawyers,” Business Law (2021)
- AV® Preeminent™ by Martindale-Hubbell® Law Directory
- Virginia Business Magazine, “Legal Elite”- Real Estate/Land Use (2008-present)
- Thomson Reuters, “Virginia Super Lawyers Rising Star” (2009-11, 2013-16)
- Coastal Virginia Magazine, “Top Lawyers” – Real Estate (2017-present)
- Inside Business, “Top Forty under 40”
- Best Lawyers in America – Real Estate Law (2021-present)
Richard is the firm’s Business Practice Group Manager. He concentrates his law practice in business, commercial transactions, and commercial real estate matters.
Richard’s business and commercial transactions practice includes commercial real estate acquisitions, dispositions, leasing, development, and finance. He regularly works with real estate acquisition firms, developers, property management groups, commercial tenants and lenders in the structuring and closing of commercial transactions.
Richard received a B.S. in Business Administration (cum laude) from the University of Richmond, where he concentrated his studies in Economics and Finance. He received his J.D. (cum laude) from T.C. Williams School of Law, University of Richmond, where he served as Senior Staff on the Technology Committee for the Richmond Journal of Law & Technology. Richard earned the CALI Excellence for the Future Awards for Achievements in the study of both Antitrust and Intellectual Property Law.
Representative Matters
- Acted as lead Borrower’s counsel in connection with the modifications by tenant-in-common borrowers to a (i) mortgage loan in the amount of $26 million and (ii) mezzanine loan in the amount of $7 million. The mortgage loan is secured by a 4-building office portfolio located in the Raleigh – Durham, North Carolina region.
- Acted as Borrower’s counsel in connection with a loan in the collective amount of $16 million, secured by an office building located in Richmond, Virginia. The loan involved an assignment of existing loan documents and modification to loan, saving the Borrower over $50,000 in mortgage taxes.
- Acted as Purchaser’s Virginia counsel in connection with two UPREIT transactions that were closed on September 30, 2019, which included two buildings in Norfolk, VA that totaled 106,621 square feet of office space with a total value of $18.9 Million. The acquisitions were financed through both new debt and an assumption of existing debt.
- Acted as Seller’s counsel in connection with the sale of an office building in Charlotte, NC, consisting of a purchase price of $38,250,000.00 and related loan modification and release of collateral.
- Acted as Purchaser’s Virginia counsel in connection with the acquisition of a retail outparcel in Norfolk, Virginia, subject to a Ground Lease with McDonald’s Corporation for a Purchase Price of $3.26 million.
- Acted as Purchaser’s counsel for an office complex in Tampa, Florida, consisting of a purchase price of $6,800,000 and acquisition financing of $4,700,000, and 5 tenant-in-common borrowing entities.
- Acted as Purchaser’s Virginia counsel in connection with a definitive UPREIT agreement to acquire a 35,000-square-foot, single-tenant office building in Norfolk, Virginia, for total consideration of $7.1 million.
- Acted as Purchaser’s counsel in connection with the acquisition of an office building for $4,155,000, located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, consisting of acquisition financing in the amount of $2,421,053 and construction financing in the amount of $1,936,842.
- Acted as Purchaser’s counsel in joint venture, involving three (3) tenant-in-common borrowers, in a portfolio acquisition of three (3) office buildings in Tampa, Florida,consisting of a purchase price of $53,313,000, financing of $44,900,000, and 1031 implications.
- Handled documentation of a joint venture for the capital restructuring and refinancing of a portfolio of office properties in Tampa, Florida, consisting of an equity fund of $16 million and financing of $41.7 million.
- Handled a portfolio acquisition of three (3) office buildings in Greenville, South Carolina, consisting of a purchase price of $22 million and financing of $16.1 million.
- Acted as Purchaser’s counsel in the acquisition of an industrial building located in Monck’s Corner, South Carolina, consisting of a purchase price of $9,000,000.00 and financing of $6,035,250.00.
- Acted as Borrower’s counsel in the refinance of a 5-building office portfolio located in the Raleigh–Durham, North Carolina region, consisting of a mortgage loan of $29,800,000 and mezzanine loan of $7,000,000.
- Handled a $58.5 million portfolio acquisition, mortgage financing, and mezzanine financing of five (5) office buildings in Nashville, Tennessee, with financing exceeding $49 million.
- Handled a $37.3 million portfolio acquisition, mortgage financing, and mezzanine financing of four (4) office buildings in Raleigh and Durham, North Carolina, with 1031 exchange implications and financing exceeding $28 million.
- Handled refinance and credit facility loan with two (2) lenders and four (4) borrowers for financing exceeding $71 million, including an assignment of mortgage prior to refinancing, resulting in approximately$160,000 in immediate savings to the client due to reduced mortgage taxes.
- Handled a $25.5 million portfolio acquisition, mortgage financing, and mezzanine financing of industrial buildings in Reading, Pennsylvania, with financing exceeding $19.5 million.
- Handled a $12 Million portfolio disposition of thirteen (13) shopping centers located in seven (7) cities in Hampton Roads, Virginia, in a simultaneous closing involving five (5) seller entities, thirteen (13) purchaser entities, and five (5) lenders.
- Handled a $46.5 million portfolio acquisition, mortgage financing, and mezzanine financing of office buildings in Charlotte, North Carolina, with financing exceeding $27 million.
- Handled $31 million in refinances for four (4) income-producing properties, including a strategic loan structuring that saved the client over $40,000 in mortgage taxes.
- Handled a $30 Million shopping center loan in Virginia Beach, VA, including an assignment of mortgage prior to the refinance, resulting in approximately $70,000 in immediate savings to the client due to reduced mortgage taxes.
- Handled a portfolio acquisition for five (5) shopping centers involving ten (10) buyers in a simultaneous closing in South Carolina with 1031 exchange implications and financing exceeding $14 Million.
- Handled a $29 Million sale of membership interests of a property owner limited liability company, whereby the client saved $108,000 in grantor’s tax.
- Handled a $23.2 million office building acquisition and mortgage financing in Jacksonville, Florida, with financing exceeding $17.75 million.
- Handled the acquisition of a portfolio located in Nashville, Tennessee, consisting of five (5) office buildings involving a purchase price of $41,200,000.00 and the assumption of an existing loan in the original principal amount of $28,700,000.
- Handled a loan modification, as Borrower’s counsel, increasing the loan amount to $4,345,163 for the completion of a self-storage facility located in Norfolk, Virginia.
News
Commercial Real Estate Attorneys Recognized as 2022 Top Lawyers of Coastal Virginia
Commercial Real Estate attorneys from the Norfolk-based business and litigation law firm, Vandeventer Black, have been recognized as Top Lawyers of Coastal Virginia for 2022. This distinction is a peer-rated nomination given to those lawyers who exemplify excellence in their specialty. “We feel very proud of our legal team accomplishments ...
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Vandeventer Black Attorneys Recognized as 2022 Top Lawyers of Coastal Virginia
Attorneys from the Norfolk-based business and litigation law firm, Vandeventer Black, have been recognized as Top Lawyers of Coastal Virginia for 2022. This distinction is a peer-rated nomination given to those lawyers who exemplify excellence in their specialty. “We feel very proud of our legal team accomplishments for the high ...
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29 Vandeventer Black Attorneys Listed as 2021 Legal Elite
Twenty-nine Vandeventer Black attorneys have been recognized as ‘Legal Elite’ for 2021 by Virginia Business magazine. The magazine partners with the Virginia Bar Association to grant this award to attorneys nominated by their peers for this recognition every year. The selected attorneys are: Christopher Ambrosio, Business Law Anne G. Bibeau, ...
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Articles
Lease Issues in the COVID-19 Environment [Part 2]
The COVID-19 crisis has significantly impacted the ability of parties to satisfy their respective obligations under their commercial leases. As mentioned in Part 1 of this series, many parties are discovering that the language of force majeure clauses often lacks the specificity to adequately address this unique situation. Part 2 ...
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Lease Issues in the COVID-19 Environment [Part 1]
In the current COVID-19 crisis, attorneys are receiving numerous questions from landlords and tenants, as to their respective contractual obligations under their commercial leases. Tenants are carefully analyzing the provisions of the lease to determine if any provisions therein could excuse or delay performance, particularly as it relates to the ...
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Loan Issues In the COVID-19 Environment
In the current COVID-19 environment, many borrowers are asking whether the government will grant borrowers any relief from payment obligations under their commercial loans. There is a general reluctance of governmental authorities to interfere with private contracts, which would include most loan documents. Accordingly, loan payments are contractual obligations for ...
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